In a continuation of the spring session of the Plus 50 Encore program, this fall, free workshops will be held at Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) in Branchburg.

Here are the titles, dates & times, of most of the upcoming workshops to be held at the college.

A Workforce Revolution for the Boomer Generation, to be held from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Tuesday, September 10th

Discovering the Power of Using LinkedIn, to be held 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., on Tuesday, September 24th

A Healthier You, to be held from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Tuesday, October 15th

Physical, Psychological, and Financials Essentials, time & date To Be Announced (TBA)

Employers’ forum/Job Fair, time & date TBA

All workshops will be held in the RVCC Conference Center, located at 118 Lamington Road in Branchburg, New Jersey. If you plan to attend, please reply as soon as possible by sending an email to: encorelearning@raritanval.edu or calling 908-218-8871. For additional information about the Plus 50 Encore Completion Program, visit www.plus50.aacc.nche.edu.

The goal of the Plus 50 Encore program, sponsored by RVCC’s Community Education division, is to help students, over age 50, who are either unemployed or transitioning to new careers, to earn certificates in high-demand fields, such as: health care, education, social services, and various other fields, enabling them to increase their employment competitiveness.

With many older adults out of work for extended periods, the program is geared to offer skill updates and career makeovers to Baby Boomers. And, this program, sponsored by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), is an effort to train 10,000 Boomers.

The Deerbrook Charitable Trust provided the AACC with a $3.2 million grant to fund this program. For those who cannot afford to pay out-of-pocket for these certificate programs funding may still be available. For more information about the funding process, please contact RVCC’s Brenda Fisher by sending an email to bfisher@raritanval.edu or calling her at 908.526.1200, ext. 8367.

Since 2008, both the AACC, and its network of Plus 50 Initiative colleges, have worked with Boomers to help them prepare for new careers. An independent evaluation of AACC’s Plus 50 Initiative found that 89 percent of students agreed that a college workforce training helped them acquire new job skills, while 72 percent attributed their ability to land a new job to the training they received in this initiative.